A/N: I just got back from Miami, I'm far too tired to talk about Transformers 2, how hot my house is due to lack of AC, how long I've been contemplating how I made the story end, how weird Miami was, how confused I am about pretty much everything, how excited I am because my band is going to practice (FINALLY! sheesh), and how bummed I am because I can't go to the movies with one of my guy friends... well, not in detail at least. Please read and tell me what you think, because these last three chapters are really gnawing at me. Oh, and this chapter is a bit... for mature audiences only, but not seriously. Just for a little while...

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or anything else mentioned in this story; duh. XD
Rated: Mature For crude language, sexual references, and mature situations.

CHAPTER 27

I realized I wouldn't be able to explain my life at the moment even if I tried. I had gotten my best friend back, I was with a girl I really liked, and life at home was enjoyable. I was getting complacent, however. I'd soon be leaving this seemingly perfect life behind to go to an arts college and fulfill my simple dream of becoming a photographer.

Well, to counter this seemingly flawless life: My best friend, who I'd recently regained was in fact the love of my life who was absolutely smitten with some guy named Koga and was not of the proper sexual orientation for me, I was most likely ruining a great friendship with a girl I really liked because I couldn't handle being alone, life at home was enjoyable, but my guardian was suddenly dating a stuck up teacher I used to have, and my best guy friend was nowhere to be found when I needed him the most. Not to mention the fact that I had been slacking and I couldn't decide on which photos to send in the second portfolio to the college I got into.

"Sango, what are you doing?" she asked me, softly, as I edited a photo on my laptop. With the "Gaussian Blur" option, I made the sun's rays of my photo of the woods almost mist-like. Asuka, who was the main subject of the photo, was perfect and seemed to already be emitting a phantom glow. This, I felt, was a good juxtaposition of the previous photo of the wooded ground that had the arabesque pattern of random leaves with darkened contrast, making it seem very cartoon-like.

"I'm trying to arrange a portfolio last minute to send to my uni," I replied as she looked over my shoulder.

"That's me," she mumbled and I could hear the blush in her voice.

"Yeah," I smiled. "You're beautiful."

I glanced at her when she didn't reply and saw that her face was flaming red. Smirking, I kissed her briefly on the cheek. She was far too cute. I kissed her again, but this time on the lips.

She responded quickly, kissing me back very slowly. Asuka was a brilliant kisser. Her lips pressed against mine with fervor and I had to think back to when she'd finally become comfortable with making out with me… we'd done it a lot recently. In fact, we'd come really close to having sex a couple of times as well. We'd kiss one another off of our feet and I'd find myself making up excuses as to not take my clothes off.

We shouldn't.

Kagura's home.

Your sister will hear.

I can't let Kohaku walk in on this.

I don't think we're ready.

I thought we wouldn't go that far.

I've gotta pee.

I'm sorry.

She seemed a bit unfazed by everything. I felt as if every moment we shared together was becoming less and less; lacking in actual genuine substance. But I knew that was not the case. I saw the way she gazed at me with her dark brown eyes, and how she trembled when I held her close and kissed her. I just couldn't figure her out. She was just as confused as I was, I concluded, especially after the fact that she admitted she was falling for me. I felt as if that was my cue to end it with her, but I just couldn't. I was selfish. I was needy. I was lonely.

I felt her cold hands touch the flesh of my sides, and I grabbed her wrists. I took her hands in my smoldering ones and I heard her heavy breathing hitch in her throat.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking embarrassed, as if she wanted to disappear.

"Asuka, I just don't understand," I sighed, squeezing her hands gently.

"I don't either… Sango, I don't want this. But I want you; I want you so badly… Yet… I don't want to get hurt again. I'm tired of getting hurt. Kocho can't love me… You can't love me… I'm beginning to find myself… depressed."

Depressed?... I could, unfortunately, see that, but what to do?! I couldn't give up on Kagome. I loved her too much. I wasn't going to just give up and ruin my chances by getting serious with Asuka.

Asuka blushed and gazed at me. I leaned forward, kissing her gently on the lips, reveling in the softness of the pair. By her hands, which were held in mine, I pulled her into my lap. I gently worked my way into her mouth, coaxing repeatedly until she relinquished her treasure. Her tongue danced with mine, expertly, hypnotically, and I hoped to spend a little more time exploring this dazzling girl I knew as Asuka.

"If you could," she asked me as I pulled away to kiss her neck, hoping to leave an incriminating mark, "would you make love to Kagome?"

My answer came without hesitation, "Yes."

I loved Kagome. There was no doubt that I would make love to her…

And I knew Asuka was thinking about me showing the other girl affection as I nipped at her skin hungrily. The fact of the matter was, Kagome didn't love me in that way and she wasn't willing to explore the pleasures of the flesh with me. Asuka was, however, and I was willing to show her exactly what I would do to Kagome. It had been so long since I had last lost myself to carnal pleasure. I was anxious to explore every part of Asuka, gently, lovingly, firmly.

She cried out, after a particularly hard nip, and I pressed my lips against hers again.

"Will you make love to me?" she whispered and a fire ignited within me. My arousal was great, fueled by her cute plea, flushed cheeks, and wet eyes. I would certainly have my way with her.

"I can't," I breathed, watching her dark eyes for any sign of disappointment. I could see none; I realized that she cared, but refused to show it. Her desire overpowered the emotional blow.

I pushed her down against the couch and ravaged her mouth hungrily. She struggled to keep up with me, opting to breathe heavily at whatever chance she could. I found myself straddling her hips, void of a shirt, grinding feverishly against her body. She moaned rhythmically, fueling my lust fantastically. I unbuttoned her shirt, parting it to reveal the creamy, flawless skin hidden beneath. She was so small and I was anxious to feel her tiny breasts beneath my palms. I could appreciate small breasts just as well as I could appreciate fuller breasts. (1)

I removed her shirt completely, tossing it onto the floor beside mine, and her blush was insane. Standing up, I slipped down my shorts, hearing the chains clatter metallically against one another. As I stepped out of them and back onto the couch, a tiny sliver of worry slipped through my mind. What if Kohaku were to come home and find us here, naked, our bodies sliding against one another's. Would he not die of embarrassment? Would Asuka not die of embarrassment?

Fuck, I didn't care. The whole idea excited me even more. It was a thrill to do the dirty with a possibility of getting caught. Asuka's eyes were lacquered with lust and I knew she was just as anxious as I for release.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, my laptop go on standby on the coffee table. I pulled back and watched as she breathed heavily, eyes shut, lips parted.

"Do you really want this?" I asked her, worried that perhaps she would take sex too personally… of course it was a personal act, but I wasn't doing this to confirm love. I was doing this just to do this… she had been coming onto me so much. She wanted it, but was it for shallow, unmeaning reasons? Or was it because she loved me?

Her eyes, the deepest brown in existence, gazed at me, adoring my body. Her hand rested on my hip and her thumb rubbed circles into my body, slowly. Her hand was so cold. I rested my palm on her tiny, heaving chest; the bottom of my palm rested on the edge just where the bulge of her small breasts began. My fingers continued past her collar bone, and I had to adore how much smaller than I she was; it was as if my hand had covered up her whole chest.

"Your hands are so warm, Sango," she breathed.

I suddenly realized that the lust was gone. I was just sitting there, nearly naked, on the couch, straddling a topless Asuka with my hand feeling her thundering heartbeat attempting to beat a hole into her chest.

And then I heard the beeping sound of Kagura's car being locked.

Earlier, I had thought that I wouldn't care if anyone walked in on us. Now, during this moment of vulnerable connection, I felt that it would be absolutely destructive to be caught in this state.

I jumped up quickly and pulled Asuka up. Without grabbing our clothes I pulled us into the next room because the entirety of the staircase was visible from the front door. I heard Kagura come in and opened up the pantry and hid us both within. No doubt she was looking skeptically at the clothes on the floor in the living room.

She sighed and came into the kitchen. I heard footsteps following her and figured Kohaku was with her. She said something and I heard retreating footsteps.

"Sango, just come out now, and save yourself some embarrassment," I heard her sigh.

"Fuck," I muttered, before giving Asuka a lopsided smile. It felt kind of invigorating to be in this situation. I actually felt like stripping down completely nude and just greeting Kagura that way. But Asuka looked as if she was going to die from embarrassment; her face was so red.

I whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, I'll go get your shirt."

Pushing the door open I stepped out into the kitchen. Kagura's auburn eyes gazed at me, and I had to wonder if she still yearned for my body… That would be strange and I had felt that we had gotten past that. The sound of the pantry door shutting caused her eyes to snap up to mine.

"Have you been working out?" she asked and I had to chuckle, just slightly. I had been jogging and doing crunches. I liked to keep fit, not ripped or anything absolutely butch; just fit. Asuka liked it. That caused me to smile proudly.

She gave me a strange look and then seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Oh yeah, so you'd might want to go get your clothes and Asuka's too and hurry on back into the pantry. I told her to go into the bathroom and count to sixty."

"Wait, 'her'?"

She was about to answer, but then her eyes glanced a bit further than I was standing. I turned to see Kagome standing there looking quite uncomfortable. I also noticed her eyes taking in my form. As much as I had wanted that for so long, for Kagome to actually notice me, I realized it wasn't a good time for that. Last I had seen, Kagome had been absolutely devastated by her breakup with Koga. She had told me to leave her alone…

Why would she be here now? Didn't she want to blame it on me?

"Excuse me," I mumbled giving an awkward cough. I walked into the living room and grabbed my clothes and Asuka's clothes. Suddenly, I didn't feel so invigorated by being caught without my clothes. I stepped into the pantry, with a ridiculous blush on my cheeks and I heard Kagura laughing. That soon faded into the distance and I realized she had left.

"Damn, sorry about this Asuka."

"It's ok… we're… we're not ready for that, anyways."

She stepped out after putting her shirt on and brushed past Kagome as if she hadn't noticed her.

She was angry, or perhaps too embarrassed to face anyone. Whatever the case, I felt bad about everything. I took my time putting my clothes on, worried. Had I really offended her? Fuck, I never did anything right.

I stepped out into the kitchen and Kagome was gazing off towards the living room, no doubt the direction Asuka had gone. With a heavy sigh I demanded Kagome's attention.

"Yo," I said, pulling out a chair and slumping into it.

"Hey," she said, still standing awkwardly. "Sorry if it's a bad time…"

I wanted to reply with something sarcastic like, "No, definitely not a bad time; I was only feeling up my girlfriend on the couch." But of course I didn't; I could never act that way towards Kagome.

"It's never a bad time for you," I breathed lightly with a blush.

She blushed as well and looked away.

"Ok… well, I don't want to draw this out any longer," she said glancing towards where Asuka had gone to. "I just want to say… I'm sorry for acting the way I did. I'm not mad at you either! I just couldn't be… I understand that you were concerned and… thank you."

Her eyes were wet. She was going to cry.

"Kagome," I said, softly and a sob fell from her lips. I was out of my chair and had her in my arms immediately.

"I can't believe he would do something like that to me," she cried and I felt a frown tug at the corners of my mouth. I kept silent, however, knowing nothing I said could make her feel any better. Her hands clutched my shirt tightly and I rubbed her back in hopes to allay her distress.

Kagome was in my arms, but my mind was on Asuka. The small girl… she loved me. I could tell. I knew I had hurt her feelings… What was I supposed to do? Why the hell did I get myself into this? To think that feelings wouldn't develop.

"How did you know?" Kagome's muffled voice met my ears.

"I didn't, at first… I… When Asuka acted the way she did that night, I was concerned… she's usually a quiet, calm person. So I figured it was about her sister; she only gets angry when it has something to do with her sister. When I asked her she told me that Koga was the guy that her sister was dating…"

"Oh," Kagome muttered, pulling away. I figured she had her fill of crying on my shoulder.

"At first I wanted to kill him, I really did," I shook my head, thinking of the rage that had filled me, down to my toes and to the tips of my fingertips (yes, even the stubby one). "But… I tried to give him time. I didn't want to be the one to tell you…"

"No, no. Sango, I'm so grateful. Koga would've just…"

She stopped talking and sighed with a frown. I took the opportunity to observe her. She looked tired, as if she hadn't sleep for centuries. Her eyes were dull, listless, and wet and there were dark bags beneath them.

"Kagome, I'm really sorry this happened," I muttered before looking away, finding her pain filled face unbearable. She really loved him. "I don't want you to think that I'm happy about this at all."

"I know," she smiled faintly at me.

Kagome went home a little while later and I was left alone. Asuka had left long before; I wasn't expecting to see her in a long while. I beat myself up mentally for hurting her that way. It was the most regret I had felt in a long while, almost third or fourth to getting into that car accident with Miroku, but there was quite the distance between that. Hell, I regret everything that night.

I left home while Kohaku was playing video games and Kagura was on the phone (no doubt with Sesshoumaru). Those two, however strange together, seemed to work and were, without doubt, a good couple. Kagura was still being very cautious, filled with distrust towards men. Half the time, she refused to go out with him and he learned to keep their outings to a minimum. And Sesshoumaru wasn't one of those guys who was excessively gentlemanly, though he was to a certain degree; polite and holding her hand and paying the bill… yet, there were things he refused to do for her.

I realized, he reminded me a bit of InuYasha… in fact; they even looked alike in ways. Were they related? The chances of that were very slim… InuYasha lived on his own… he claimed he had no family left…

And it was in front of InuYasha's apartment I found myself.

I knocked on the door and stood there for a long while. I realized that maybe he wasn't home, but I didn't feel like going anywhere else so I sat down on the dirty steps near his door and looked out at… a graffiti coved cement wall—complete with an image of a rat with a machine gun, some artistic, complexly scrawled letters (no doubt something gang related) and a crudely illustrated penis (in purple at that!) strategically placed where there were plants making way between the cracks in the wall. (2)

I realized I had never really noticed the graffiti there; maybe InuYasha would model for me next to the wall. It'd be the perfect spot for him if he were here, dressed in the skater clothes I knew he had and with an old skateboard.

The door opened behind me and I knew that he was standing there. I turned to look at him and found him looking at me with a smile. He was shirtless and had on shorts; I knew what he had been up to, for he made no attempt to hide the incriminating red marks on his neck, chest, and arms.

"Sango, long time no see," he said with a smile.

"Yo," I replied, standing and approaching him. He made a move to hug me and I frowned, stepping backwards.

"No way in fucking hell are you going to hug me, smelling like sex," I barked and he laughed.

"Damn, I missed you," he shook his head and entered his dwelling, leaving the door open for me to follow.

"I missed you too 'Yash," I muttered, looking around before I sat down. I was 100 percent sure the girl was still in the apartment.

"You want something to drink?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Nah; I just want to talk."

"You want to talk?" he suddenly seemed concerned as he took a seat in the chair across from me, his amber eyes lighting up with worry.

"Oh, don't worry… it's just a lot has happened and I realize I haven't kept you filled in very well."

"Can I get a summary?"

"Ok… well, after I got out of the hospital, Kagura and Sesshoumaru started dating. Then Kagome and I made up, and I revealed Koga as a cheater to her as well as offended Asuka by getting kind of sexual with her and now I'm a bit distraught."

"Wait, you 'got sexual' with Kagome?!"

"No! With Asuka," I explained, understanding that my summary could have been confusing.

"Oh, ok…"

So I spent the next few minutes elaborating on each subject and InuYasha seemed completely enthralled. I was explaining how I found out Koga had been cheating on Kagome when a girl stepped out of InuYasha's room in shorts and a shirt. Her hair was dripping wet and I figured that she had just gotten out of the shower. My eyes scaled her pale legs, marveling at their length and I took a quick second to admire her until my eyes met hers.

It was the barista from the book store's café.

We had a little stare down until InuYasha decided to intervene.

"Uh, this is Sango," he said to her, gesturing to me. "Sango, this is Kikyo."

"Yo," I said, giving half a wave.

Silence filled the air once more and I cleared my throat.

"Have you two met before?" InuYasha asked skeptically.

I shrugged and wet my lips, choosing to gaze towards the window.

"No," she replied curtly and she left into the kitchen.

"So, you said Kagome came over?" he tried to get the conversation going again.

"Ah, yeah… And Asuka and I had almost had sex before she did," I mumbled, a bit embarrassed by the whole thing.

"Oh, man, shitty timing, huh?"

"Well I don't know really… At first, I just wanted to have sex, but then… I realized that she liked me more than she put on and I ended up apologizing to her for it, but she seemed too upset to accept it. I figure I won't see her for a long while… Anyways, the way I see it, it was better we didn't have sex."

"Sango, what is going on between you and Asuka…? I know you're dating an all, but you failed to explain to me why, since you're still hung up over Kagome."

"I was being stupid, that's all," I mumbled, biting my lip. "I think it's about time we break up."

"What...? Ah, well I guess that's a good conclusion. Do you know any way to do it without really hurting her?"

"No."

"Sango, you're going to hurt her, you know that, right?"

"Yes."

"You can handle it," he said confidently.

"There's no milk," the girl interrupted, quite calmly.

Her eyes met mine briefly before shifting over to InuYasha.

She really did look like Kagome; I wasn't just hallucinating that night. But damn, she was hot. Kagome was more of a "cute" than a "hot"…

"Oh, sorry," he said, getting up with a slight blush. "I could go get some," he offered and I pursed my lips. As if he'd actually do that, right now.

"Ok," she said, taking a seat across from where we were sitting. InuYasha looked at her incredulously, his amber eyes burning with a hidden anger and got up from where he was to disappear into his room.

Seriously? Was he really going to go on some sort of grocery run, right now, when I needed to talk to him? Who the fuck was this girl, really?

He came back out, looking a bit disgruntled, and dressed in wrinkled clothes. He should really take a shower; it's just disrespectful to the environment and everyone who live in it to go out in public after having sex.

"Sango, you want to come with?" he asked, with a gentle smile. The girl scowled as I stood and suddenly spoke.

"No, you can get it yourself. I want to talk with your friend here."

What the fuck?

InuYasha just shrugged and left

I gazed at this girl, lovely in appearance, yet… something was off. Who was she, and what did she want from me?

1- Yeah... um, huge boobs aren't all that exciting ya know. I prefer... well, I suppose you don't really care what I prefer. lol
2- The reference of the rat with the machine gun... that came completely from "Bansky". Check out his graffiti online if you can; he's one of my heros.

Thanks for reading! Please review!
-Enigmatic Ethereality